Feature: System Administration

Discover the possibilities of the /proc directory

The /proc directory is a strange beast. It doesn't really exist, yet you can explore it. Its zero-length files are neither binary nor text, yet you can examine and display them. This special directory holds all the details about your Linux system, including its kernel, processes, and configuration parameters. By studying the /proc directory, you can learn how Linux commands work, and you can even do some administrative tasks.

Under Linux, everything is managed as a file; even devices are accessed as files (in the /dev directory). Although you might think that "normal" files are either text or binary (or possibly device or pipe files), the /proc directory contains a stranger type: virtual files. These files are listed, but don't actually exist on disk; the operating system creates them on the fly if you try to read them.

Most virtual files always have a current timestamp, which indicates that they are constantly being kept up to date. The /proc directory itself is created every time you boot your box. You need to work as root to be able to examine the whole directory; some of the files (such as the process-related ones) are owned by the user who launched it. Although almost all the files are read-only, a few writable ones (notably in /proc/sys) allow you to change kernel parameters. (Of course, you must be careful if you do this.)

/proc directory organization

The /proc directory is organized in virtual directories and subdirectories, and it groups files by similar topic. Working as root, the ls /proc command brings up something like this:

Finding documentation about the /proc filesystem can be a chore, because it's distributed all around the kernel source. Looking in the /usr/scr/linux/Documentation directory, I found proc.txt, which contains plenty of information but is somewhat dated: its latest update was in November 2000, when kernel version 2.4.0 was just about to come out. Still, wading through this directory is easier than looking at the C source files. Note that you might end up getting more than you wanted; for example, the laptop-mode.txt file is almost 1,000 lines long and deals exclusively with the single /proc/sys/vm/laptop_mode file.

The numbered directories (more on them later) correspond to each running process; a special self symlink points to the current process. Some virtual files provide hardware information, such as /proc/cpuinfo, /proc/meminfo, and /proc/interrupts. Others give file-related info, such as /proc/filesystems or /proc/partitions. The files under /proc/sys are related to kernel configuration parameters, as we'll see.

If you try the top or free commands, you might recognize some of these numbers. In fact, several well-known utilities access the /proc directory to get their information. For example, if you want to know what kernel you're running, you might try uname -srv, or go to the source and type cat /proc/version. Some other interesting files include:

/proc/acpi: A similar directory that offers plenty of data on the more modern Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. For example, to see if your laptop is connected to the AC power, you can use cat /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/AC/state to get either "on line" or "off line."

/proc/cmdline: Shows the parameters that were passed to the kernel at boot time. In my case, it contains root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_FUJITSU_MHS2040_NLA5T3314DW3-part3 vga=0x317 resume=/dev/sda2 splash=silent PROFILE=QuintaWiFi, which tells me which partition is the root of the filesystem, which VGA mode to use, and more. The last parameter has to do with openSUSE's System Configuration Profile Management.

/proc/cpuinfo: Provides data on the processor of your box. For example, in my laptop, cat /proc/cpuinfo gets me a listing that starts with:

This shows that I have only one processor, numbered 0, of the 80686 family (the 6 in cpu family goes as the middle digit): an AMD Athlon XP, running at less than 1GHz.

/proc/loadavg: A related file that shows the average load on the processor; its information includes CPU usage in the last minute, last five minutes, and last 10 minutes, as well as the number of currently running processes.

/proc/stat: Also gives statistics, but goes back to the last boot.

/proc/uptime: A short file that has only two numbers: how many seconds your box has been up, and how many seconds it has been idle.

/proc/devices: Displays all currently configured and loaded character and block devices. /proc/ide and /proc/scsi provide data on IDE and SCSI devices.

/proc/ioports: Shows you information about the regions used for I/O communication with those devices.

The first column shows whether the filesystem is mounted on a block device. In my case, I have partitions configured with ext2 and ext3 mounted.

/proc/mounts: Shows all the mounts used by your machine (its output looks much like /etc/mtab). Similarly, /proc/partitions and /proc/swaps show all partitions and swap space.

/proc/fs: If you're exporting filesystems with NFS, this directory has among its many subdirectories and files /proc/fs/nfsd/exports, which shows the file system that are being shared and their permissions.

/proc/net: You can't beat this for network information. Describing each file in this directory would require too much space, but it includes /dev (each network device), several iptables (firewall) related files, net and socket statistics, wireless information, and more.

There are also several RAM-related files. I've already mentioned /proc/meminfo, but you've also got /proc/iomem, which shows you how RAM memory is used in your box, and /proc/kcore, which represents the physical RAM of your box. Unlike most other virtual files, /proc/kcore shows a size that's equal to your RAM plus a small overhead. (Don't try to cat this file, because its contents are binary and will mess up your screen.) Finally, there are many hardware-related files and directories, such as /proc/interrupts and /proc/irq, /proc/pci (all PCI devices), /proc/bus, and so on, but they include very specific information, which most users won't need.

What's in a process?

As I said, the numerical named directories represent all running processes. When a process ends, its /proc directory disappears automatically. If you check any of these directories while they exist, you will find plenty of files, such as:

cmdline: Contains the command that started the process, with all its parameters.

cwd: A symlink to the current working directory (CWD) for the process; exe links to the process executable, and root links to its root directory.

environ: Shows all environment variables for the process.

fd: Contains all file descriptors for a process, showing which files or devices it is using.

maps, statm, and mem: Deal with the memory in use by the process.

stat and status: Provide information about the status of the process, but the latter is far clearer than the former.

These files provide several script programming challenges. For example, if you want to hunt for zombie processes, you could scan all numbered directories and check whether "(Z) Zombie" appears in the /status file. I once needed to check whether a certain program was running; I did a scan and looked at the /cmdline files instead, searching for the desired string. (You can also do this by working with the output of the ps command, but that's not the point here.) And if you want to program a better-looking top, all the needed information is right at your fingertips.

Tweaking the system: /proc/sys

/proc/sys not only provides information about the system, it also allows you to change kernel parameters on the fly, and enable or disable features. (Of course, this could prove harmful to your system -- consider yourself warned!)

To determine whether you can configure a file or if it's just read-only, use ls -ld; if a file has the "W" attribute, it means you may use it to configure the kernel somehow. For example, ls -ld /proc/kernel/* starts like this:

You can see that bootloader_type isn't meant to be changed, but other files are. To change a file, use something like echo 10 >/proc/sys/vm/swappiness. This particular example would allow you to tune the virtual memory paging performance. By the way, these changes are only temporary, and their effects will disappear when you reboot your system; use sysctl and the /etc/sysctl.conf file to effect more permanent changes.

Let's take a high-level look at the /proc/sys directories:

debug: Has (surprise!) debugging information. This is good if you're into kernel development.

kernel: Lets you affect the kernel configuration and operation directly.

net: Lets you control network-related matters. Be careful, because messing with this can make you lose connectivity!

vm: Deals with the VM subsystem.

Conclusion

The /proc special directory provides full detailed information about the inner workings of Linux and lets you fine-tune many aspects of its configuration. If you spend some time learning all the possibilities of this directory, you'll be able to get a more perfect Linux box. And isn't that something we all want?

Federico Kereki is an Uruguayan systems engineer with more than 20 years' experience developing systems, doing consulting work, and teaching at universities.

Discover the possibilities of the /proc folder

Re: Discover the possibilities of the /proc folder

Posted by: Anonymous
[ip: 71.120.58.24]
on February 18, 2008 08:37 AM

Just shut up. Nobody is impressed with your pedantic display. It's pretty clear that you're rather new to computing. You seem to believe that a talent for talking shit is a substitute for knowledge and skill. It isn't. Back to the Gentoo forums with you and all the other fake Linux experts.

Discover the possibilities of the /proc folder

There is a wealth of information presented and the first two posters can't get past a typo in the title??!?! Inability to separate the insignificant from the significant is NOT a system admin I want working for me. In all likelihood, the author probably spends a lot of productive time in the Windows AND the UNIX world - as I do. MOST system admin people I come across can't fathom how I can do it; they are also the most inept.

Discover the possibilities of the /proc folder

great article! learn alot! but there are some typos: folder should be directory in title and ... Working as root, the ls /code/* -- ... the ls /proc/ ... Doing a ls /proc/* would be a not so good idea.
man no commas, no newlines.. this comment box is awful.

Discover the possibilities of the /proc folder

Some of us old farts, those of us that dont tzpe on a Deutsch kezboard where the y key types the z character and vice versa, remember the old Apple +üü+ (2plus). On that the line feed and return character is called °return°, like the old la32 teletype terminal that had the paper tape IO device on its left side. IBM started the use of the °enter° key nomenclature to describe the same key. Same for directories. Apple called them that, and the PC when it came out in the early 80s did the same. It is only when Apple deserted the old Apple2 for the jackoffintosh that they started the -lets call the directories folders- game. I have always read the -folder- word and interpreted it automatically as a directory with the system lying to newbs and calling them something else. Now with windows routinely lying to its users about files, their names, where they are, and now with that abomination called veeesta actually moving them against your will, the depth of microsofts deceit deepens to no bounds. Glad I am a linux user by way of Apple, PC-DOS 2 3 4 5 6, OS-2, winders 2-0 1 2 3 4 5 ..6..workgroupies 95 95c2 98 98.2 ME 2k..linux 5 6.0 1 2 Caldera
(never use Caldera if ya ever lose power) Red Hat 6 7 SuSE 6 6.1 6.2 7 8 8.2 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 10.1 etc. Actually have all these distros in their original boxes with the original manuals. Many programs in there have been called bad boys by nosy governments, like ripit. O well.

Discover the possibilities of the /proc directory

Discover the possibilities of the /proc directory

Posted by: Anonymous
[ip: 152.91.9.9]
on February 19, 2008 02:34 AM

These unmoderated comments really turn me off reading Linux.com. What's with the babies who can't cope with someone using the word folder? Folder/directory - who cares? Do you chastise your mommy when she refers to the automobile as a car? Or the television as a tee-vee? Sheesh, grow up kids.

Discover the possibilities of the /proc directory

Brilliant article! I knew there was a lot of info in /proc but I'd never taken the time to investigate what it all meant. Considering documentation is pretty scarce or out of date, I really appreciate you taking the time to bring all of this information together. Well done! Bri :)